


Guests

by lha



Series: Gabriel Lorca: Child-whisperer [6]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Children, Fluff, Gen, Parental Lorca, Sleepovers, Toddler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 12:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13857771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lha/pseuds/lha
Summary: Gabriel has house guests while their mother is busy.





	Guests

**Author's Note:**

> As ever, it started with a tweet - 
> 
> https://twitter.com/Vintage1983V/status/969864954009538560

“‘gain!” Mark proclaimed, bouncing up and down. “‘gain Gabe!” 

“That was the last time, we agreed,” Gabriel said, his head hanging down between his shoulders. They’d done a pretty good job piecing him back together after his last major injury but crawling around the floor with multiple children on your back yelling ‘giiddyup’ was, it transpired, not very good for his back. He was going to pay dearly for this he was fairly sure, and he was glad that neither Katrina nor Hugh were here to see him. Then again, if anyone else had been on earth at the moment then he probably wouldn’t have been drafted in for childcare duties when Tilly had gone into labour.

“Please Gabe?” Andrew asked from where he was seated further back behind his brother.

“I’m afraid not gentlemen, four times round is the limit for this old war horse,” Gabriel said dramatically, before collapsing and sending the two young boys on his back tumbling to the floor. There was peels of laughter as various limbs went everywhere and the brothers ended up wrestling on the floor. Gabriel rolled over to stare at the ceiling and wondered how in the universe this had become his life. The fact that he’d been adopted by the Discovery crew after they’d rescued him still left him entirely bemused but ten years later, here he was emergency babysitter on demand. A jaw splitting yawn from his youngest charge was the deciding factor in what was going to happen next. 

“Right, time to get ready for bed.” 

“No!” they both called out and then Andrew scrambled to his feet and with his best ‘I’m almost five’ look said. “Can we sleep in the den please?” 

“In a den!” Mark seemed to agree. Den making was now one of his ever growing list of child entertaining strategies and this one was particularly good, if he said so himself.

“Well…” Gabriel said with mock hesitation. 

“Please!” Andrew said. 

“You promise you’ll behave?” The pair of them nodded eagerly. “Alright then, Andrew off you go to the toilet while I help Mark get changed.” 

“I do it!” the two year-old said with a stomp of his foot.

“How about,” Gabriel said, picking him up and taking him through to the spare room, “I get your nappy changed and then you can put your pyjamas on yourself?” 

“‘K,” he said in agreement but by the time Gabriel had gotten him clean and wrapped in the origami wonder that was his night-time nappy, Mark’s thumb was firmly placed in his mouth and he was rubbing his eye with a fist. 

“Ready?” he asked but the universal sign for ‘pick me up’ was a fairly good sign that the desire to dress himself had passed.

“Gabe? I can’t find my toothwand!” Andrew called from the bathroom.

“I’ve got it here,” he replied, amazed by the fact that Mark seemed entirely unperturbed by the way Gabriel was manipulating his limbs into his sleep suit.

Carrying the now sleeping toddler through to the bathroom with both of the toothwands, Gabriel supervised Andrew’s diligent cleaning his teeth and did the best he could to prise Mark’s thumb out of the way and complete at least a cursory cycle.

“Can I have a story?” Andrew asked once he was done and changed into his own pyjamas. 

“Two if you like,” Gabriel offered as he laid down Mark on the cushions from his coach and crawled into the den beside them. The careful consideration that was put in to the selection was worth the extra five minutes spent bent over beneath the sheets and blankets they’d strung across the room.

Originally he’d had great plans about doing some work once he’d gotten them to bed but he was absolutely exhausted. Instead he’d showered, pulled on his own pyjamas and crawled into bed. He must have fallen asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow because the next thing he knew he woke up with a start, adrenaline coursing through his veins and eyes searching the dusky light. He knew straight away that there was someone in the room with him but he couldn't see anyone and it took him a moment for his rational mind to remember that there were supposed to be other people in the flat. Not a moment too soon it seemed as there was a small child trying to climb up onto his mattress 

“Gabe?” Mark asked, his voice choked and wobbling.

“I’m here,” he said trying to calm his own heart rate as he reached over to help him up only to end up with an armful of crying child.

“I… want…. Mummy…” he gasped through sobbs.

“I know love,” Gabriel said, pushing himself upright against the headboard and pulling him closer, “But she’s doing a very important job just now. Isn’t she?” There was a hesitant nodd against his chest. “You’re going to have a little sister soon aren’t you?”

“I be a big brother.”

“Yes, you and Andrew will both be big brothers.”

“She be blue like Oter?” he asked after a moment.

“I think Oter is Andorian, so she probably won’t look like Oter.”

“She have hair like me?”

“Well, I’m not sure but there’s a good chance, yes.” Every single relative of Sylvia Tilly Gabriel had ever met had been a redhead. “But whatever she looks like, you’ll love her very much.”

“Lots and lots and lots,” Mark said. He seemed to have calmed down now and was drawing patterns on the front of Gabriel’s t-shirt. They sat there quietly for a little while until Mark started fidgeting and wriggling until he’d pushed the covers down far enough that he could get his legs under them. 

“Gabe lie down,” he said, tugging on his arm. Slightly perplexed, Gabriel did as he was told and then allowed himself to be suitably rearranged to Mark’s requirements; the boy curled up against his chest with one of his arms around him. He made a happy little noise that filled Gabe with a pleasant warmth but he didn’t relax, couldn’t allow himself to fall asleep. It was rare that he woke slowly, he was often out of bed before he realised what had happened and he knew from the state of his sheets how often and how violently he thrashed about. He wouldn’t risk that with anyone else in the bed with him, never mind a child. 

After he was certain that Mark was asleep again, Gabriel shifted, trying to lift him up so that he could return him to bed. As soon as he started however, the boy frowned and his little fists tightened their grip on his t-shirt. So instead, he stayed there, staring at the ceiling and wondering whether Tilly had had the baby. At some point, despite the best of intentions he must have drifted off and not only that but into a steady deep sleep because several hours later he woke slowly to the sound of two voices talking over him. 

“I’ll have the first shot,” Andrew said, “and then you can hold her.”

“I go first!”

“I’m the oldest so I’ll go first.” 

“I think your Mum and Dad will go first,” Gabriel said, wrapping an arm about each of the brothers, “but then you’ll be next.”

“And then you, Gabe!” Andrew declared.

“Maybe,” he agreed.

“I hungry!” Mark said enthusiastically 

“Nice to meet you hungry, I’m Gabriel.” 

“No silly, I is Mark!” he giggled, climbing onto Gabriel’s chest and peeling open his eyes with chubby fingers. “Look a’ me!” 

“Oh, so you are,” he said with mock surprise “and I am a tickle monster!” Flipping over with a roar, he attacked both boys with fervour until all three of them were a laughing, panting mess. It was another ten minutes before they made it out of bed and three hours later when, with a boy clutching each hand Gabriel led them into the maternity ward to meet their new sister.

**Author's Note:**

> Utter unabashed fluff this time. Really not sure that there is a point to it at all, but hopefully it might have given you some warm and fluffy feelings!
> 
> Thanks as ever for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts here or on twitter @LHA_again
> 
> Lx


End file.
